Systems and methods for cloud deployment engine for selective workload migration or federation based on workload conditions

ABSTRACT

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for a cloud deployment engine for selective workload migration or federation based on workload conditions. A set of aggregate usage history data can record consumption of processor, software, or other resources subscribed to by one or more users in a or clouds. An entitlement engine can analyze the usage history data to identify a subscription margin and other trends or data reflecting short-term consumption trends. An associated deployment engine can analyze the short-term consumption trends, and generate a decision to either deploy any over-subscribed resources to a set of federated backup clouds, or to one or more new host clouds. In aspects, the decision to augment the capacity of the host cloud with either a cloud federation or a complete host cloud replacement can be based on a set of selection criteria, including the margin by which the resources are over-subscribed and/or whether the over-subscription is static, increasing or accelerating, among others.

FIELD

The invention relates generally to systems and methods for a clouddeployment engine for selective workload migration or federation basedon workload conditions, and more particularly, to platforms andtechniques for tracking the consumption of resources by virtual machinesin a cloud to determine whether to deploy workloads of one or more usersto federated backup clouds or to one or more replacement clouds on apermanent basis.

BACKGROUND

The advent of cloud-based computing architectures has opened newpossibilities for the rapid and scalable deployment of virtual Webstores, media outlets, social networking sites, and many other on-linesites or services. In general, a cloud-based architecture deploys a setof hosted resources such as processors, operating systems, software andother components that can be combined together to form virtual machines.A user or customer can request the instantiation of a virtual machine orset of machines from those resources from a central server or cloudmanagement system to perform intended tasks, services, or applications.For example, a user may wish to set up and instantiate a virtual serverfrom the cloud to create a storefront to market products or services ona temporary basis, for instance, to sell tickets to or merchandise foran upcoming sports or musical performance. The user can subscribe to theset of resources needed to build and run the set of instantiated virtualmachines on a comparatively short-term basis, such as hours or days, fortheir intended application.

Typically, when a user utilizes a cloud, the user must track thesoftware applications executed in the cloud and/or processesinstantiated in the cloud. For example, the user must track the cloudprocesses to ensure that the correct cloud processes have beeninstantiated, that the cloud processes are functioning properly and/orefficiently, that the cloud is providing sufficient resources to thecloud processes, and so forth. Due in part to the user's requirementsand overall usage of the cloud, the user may have many applicationsand/or processes instantiated in a cloud at any given instant, and theuser's deployment of virtual machines, software, and other resources canchange dynamically over time. In cases, the user may also utilizemultiple independent host clouds to support the user's cloud deployment.That user may further instantiate and use multiple applications or othersoftware or services inside or across multiple of those cloudboundaries, and those resources may be used or consumed by multiple ordiffering end-user groups in those different cloud networks.

In terms of the management of a set of virtual machines operated by auser in a cloud, at times the user's consumption of resources in thecloud can vary and/or spike, at different times and/or under differentconditions. Since in one regard consumption spikes may entail enhancedor increased subscription costs to the user, that user may wish toconsider rolling their executing workload over to federated backupclouds, or to migrate the workload to an entirely new host cloud.Existing cloud management platforms do not provide the cloud user oroperator with tools to automatically analyze the suitability ordesirability of performing a temporary deployment of partial workloadsto backup clouds, versus the permanent migration of workloads to newcloud hosts, depending on factors such as cost, expectedover-subscription margins for the user's required resources, theduration of any demand peaks, and/or other factors. If a user oradministrator is forced to evaluate decisions to backup versus fullymigrate on a manual basis, that user could choose to migrate to anentirely new host cloud when that scale of migration is not necessary,or could choose to supply necessary resources on a backup basis from thespot marketplace, while possibly incurring subscription fees that aregreat than necessary.

It may be desirable to provide systems and methods for a clouddeployment engine for selective workload migration or federation basedon workload conditions, in which selection criteria and/or decisionlogic for either choosing federated cloud backup or complete orpermanent migration to new cloud hosts, based on those and otherfactors.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an overall cloud system architecture in which variousaspects of systems and methods for a cloud deployment engine forselective workload migration or federation based on workload conditionscan be implemented, according to embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an overall cloud system architecture in which variousaspects of systems and methods for a cloud deployment engine forselective workload migration or federation based on workload conditionscan be implemented, in further regards;

FIG. 3 illustrates a network configuration in which systems and methodsfor a cloud deployment engine for selective workload migration orfederation based on workload conditions can be implemented, includingthe capture and reconciliation of short-term resource consumptionmargins across a set of multiple users, and potentially across multiplehost clouds;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary data structure in which the capture andaggregation of marginal resource consumption data for multiple users,and available excess capacity from those users can be encoded andstored, according to various aspects;

FIG. 5 illustrates the identification of various over-subscriptionconditions for cloud resources consumed by a set of virtual machines,according to aspects;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary hardware configuration for a cloudmanagement system and/or other hardware that can support and maintainone or more cloud-based networks, according to various embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart for the analysis and processing ofshort-term resource consumption by a set of users in different clouds,and the reconciliation of different marginal consumption values forthose users including potentially across those clouds in an aggregate oroffset subscription cost, that can be used in systems and methods for acloud deployment engine for selective workload migration or federationbased on workload conditions, according to various embodiments; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart for the analysis and processing oftranslatable time periods that can be used in systems and methods for acloud deployment engine for selective workload migration or federationbased on workload conditions, according to various embodiments

DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein can be implemented in or supported by acloud network architecture. As used herein, a “cloud” can comprise acollection of hardware, software, services, and/or resources that can beinvoked to instantiate a virtual machine, process, or other resource fora limited or defined duration. As shown for example in FIG. 1, thecollection of resources supporting a cloud 102 can at a hardware levelcomprise a set of resource servers 108 configured to deliver computingcomponents needed to instantiate a virtual machine, process, service, orother resource. For example, one group of resource servers in set ofresource servers 108 can host and serve an operating system, and/orcomponents, utilities, or interfaces related to that operating system,to deliver to a virtual target, and instantiate that machine with animage of that operating system. Another group of servers in set ofresource servers 108 can accept requests to host computing cycles orprocessor time, memory allocations, communications ports or links,and/or other resources to supply a defined level of processing power orthroughput for a virtual machine. A further group of resource servers inset of resource servers 108 can host and serve applications or othersoftware to load on an instantiation of a virtual machine, such as anemail client, a browser application, a messaging application, or otherapplications, software, or services. Other types of resource servers canbe used to support one or more clouds 102.

In embodiments, the entire set of resource servers 108 and/or otherhardware or software resources used to support one or more clouds 102,along with the set of instantiated virtual machines, can be managed by acloud management system 104. The cloud management system 104 cancomprise a dedicated or centralized server and/or other software,hardware, services, and network tools that communicate via network 106,such as the Internet or other public or private network, with allservers in set of resource servers 108 to manage the cloud 102 and itsoperation. To instantiate a new or updated set of virtual machines, auser can transmit an instantiation request to the cloud managementsystem 104 for the particular type of virtual machine they wish toinvoke for their intended application. A user can for instance make arequest to instantiate a set of virtual machines configured for email,messaging or other applications from the cloud 102. The virtual machinescan be instantiated as virtual client machines, virtual appliancemachines consisting of special-purpose or dedicated-task machines asunderstood in the art, and/or as other virtual machines or entities. Therequest to invoke and instantiate the desired complement of virtualmachines can be received and processed by the cloud management system104, which identifies the type of virtual machine, process, or otherresource being requested in that platform's associated cloud. The cloudmanagement system 104 can then identify the collection of hardware,software, service, and/or other resources necessary to instantiate thatcomplement of virtual machines or other resources. In embodiments, theset of instantiated virtual machines or other resources can, forexample, and as noted, comprise virtual transaction servers used tosupport Web storefronts, Web pages, and/or other transaction sites.

In embodiments, the user's instantiation request can specify a varietyof parameters defining the operation of the set of virtual machines tobe invoked. The instantiation request, for example, can specify adefined period of time for which the instantiated collection ofmachines, services, or processes is needed. The period of time can be,for example, an hour, a day, a month, or other interval of time. Inembodiments, the user's instantiation request can specify theinstantiation of a set of virtual machines or processes on a task basis,rather than for a predetermined amount or interval of time. Forinstance, a user could request a set of virtual provisioning servers andother resources until a target software update is completed on apopulation of corporate or other machines. The user's instantiationrequest can in further regards specify other parameters that define theconfiguration and operation of the set of virtual machines or otherinstantiated resources. For example, the request can specify a specificminimum or maximum amount of processing power or input/output (I/O)throughput that the user wishes to be available to each instance of thevirtual machine or other resource. In embodiments, the requesting usercan for instance specify a service level agreement (SLA) acceptable fortheir desired set of applications or services. Other parameters andsettings can be used to instantiate and operate a set of virtualmachines, software, and other resources in the host clouds. One skilledin the art will realize that the user's request can likewise includecombinations of the foregoing exemplary parameters, and others. It maybe noted that “user” herein can include a network-level user orsubscriber to cloud-based networks, such as a corporation, governmententity, educational institution, and/or other entity, includingindividual users and groups of users.

When the request to instantiate a set of virtual machines or otherresources has been received and the necessary resources to build thosemachines or resources have been identified, the cloud management system104 can communicate with one or more set of resource servers 108 tolocate resources to supply the required components. Generally, the cloudmanagement system 104 can select servers from the diverse set ofresource servers 108 to assemble the various components needed to buildthe requested set of virtual machines, services, or other resources. Itmay be noted that in some embodiments, permanent storage, such asoptical storage or hard disk arrays, may or may not be included orlocated within the set of resource servers 108 available to the cloudmanagement system 104, since the set of instantiated virtual machines orother resources may be intended to operate on a purely transient ortemporary basis. In embodiments, other hardware, software or otherresources not strictly located or hosted in one or more clouds 102 canbe accessed and leveraged as needed. For example, other software orservices that are provided outside of one or more clouds 102 acting ashosts, and are instead hosted by third parties outside the boundaries ofthose clouds, can be invoked by in-cloud virtual machines or users. Forfurther example, other non-cloud hardware and/or storage services can beutilized as an extension to the one or more clouds 102 acting as hostsor native clouds, for instance, on an on-demand, subscribed, orevent-triggered basis.

With the resource requirements identified for building a network ofvirtual machines, the cloud management system 104 can extract and buildthe set of virtual machines or other resources on a dynamic, on-demandbasis. For example, one set of resource servers 108 may respond to aninstantiation request for a given quantity of processor cycles with anoffer to deliver that computational power immediately and guaranteed forthe next hour or day. A further set of resource servers 108 can offer toimmediately supply communication bandwidth, for example on a guaranteedminimum or best-efforts basis, for instance over a defined window oftime. In other embodiments, the set of virtual machines or otherresources can be built on a batch basis, or at a particular future time.For example, a set of resource servers 108 may respond to a request forinstantiation of virtual machines at a programmed time with an offer todeliver the specified quantity of processor cycles within a specificamount of time, such as the next 12 hours. Other timing and resourceconfigurations are possible.

After interrogating and receiving resource commitments from the set ofresource servers 108, the cloud management system 104 can select a groupof servers in the set of resource servers 108 that match or best matchthe instantiation request for each component needed to build the user'srequested virtual machine, service, or other resource. The cloudmanagement system 104 for the one or more clouds 102 acting as thedestination for the virtual machines can then coordinate the integrationof the identified group of servers from the set of resource servers 108,to build and launch the requested set of virtual machines or otherresources. The cloud management system 104 can track the identifiedgroup of servers selected from the set of resource servers 108, or otherdistributed resources that are dynamically or temporarily combined, toproduce and manage the requested virtual machine population, services,or other cloud-based resources.

In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can generate a resourceaggregation table or other record that identifies the various selectedsets of resource servers in set of resource servers 108 that will beused to supply the components of the set of instantiated virtualmachines, services, or processes. The selected sets of resource serverscan be identified by unique identifiers such as, for instance, Internetprotocol (IP) addresses or other addresses. In aspects, different setsof servers in set of resource servers 108 can be selected to deliverdifferent resources to different users and/or for differentapplications. The cloud management system 104 can register the finalizedgroup of servers in the set resource servers 108 contributing to orotherwise supporting the set of instantiated machines, services, orprocesses.

The cloud management system 104 can then set up and launch theinitiation process to instantiate the virtual machines, processes,services, and/or other resources to be hosted and delivered from the oneor more clouds 102. The cloud management system 104 can for instancetransmit an instantiation command or instruction to the registered groupof servers in the set of resource servers 108. The cloud managementsystem 104 can receive a confirmation message back from each registeredserver in set of resource servers 108 indicating a status or stateregarding the provisioning of their respective resources. Variousregistered resource servers may confirm, for example, the availabilityof a dedicated amount of processor cycles, amounts of electronic memory,communications bandwidth, services, and/or applications or othersoftware prepared to be served and delivered.

As shown for example in FIG. 2, after coordination of the sources andconfiguration of resources including the hardware layer, selectedsoftware, and/or other resources, the cloud management system 104 canthen instantiate a set of virtual machines 116, and/or other appliances,services, processes, and/or entities, based on the resources supplied byservers within set of resource servers 108 registered to support the oneor more clouds 102 in a multiple-cloud network 110. According toaspects, cloud management system 104 can access or interact with avirtualization module, platform, or service to instantiate and operateset of virtual machines 116, such as the kernel-based virtualizationmanager (KVM™) available from Red Hat, Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., or others.In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can instantiate a givennumber, for example, 10, 500, 1000, 20,000, or other numbers orinstances of virtual machines to populate one or more clouds 102 and bemade available to users of that cloud or clouds. In aspects, users mayaccess the one or more clouds 102 via the Internet, or other public orprivate networks. Each virtual machine can be assigned an instantiatedmachine ID that can be stored in the resource aggregation table, orother record or image of the instantiated virtual machine population.Additionally, the cloud management system 104 can store data related tothe duration of the existence or operation of each operating virtualmachine, as well as the collection of resources utilized by the overallset of instantiated virtual machines 116.

In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can further store, trackand manage each user's identity and associated set of rights orentitlements to software, hardware, and other resources. Each user thatoperates a virtual machine or service in the set of virtual machines inthe cloud can have specific rights and resources assigned and madeavailable to them, with associated access rights and securityprovisions. The cloud management system 104 can track and configurespecific actions that each user can perform, such as the ability toprovision a set of virtual machines with software applications or otherresources, configure a set of virtual machines to desiredspecifications, submit jobs to the set of virtual machines or otherhost, manage other users of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116or other resources, and/or other privileges, entitlements, or actions.The cloud management system 104 associated with the virtual machine(s)of each user can further generate records of the usage of instantiatedvirtual machines to permit tracking, billing, and auditing of theresources and services consumed by the user or set of users. In aspectsof the present teachings, the tracking of usage activity for one or moreuser (including network level user and/or end-user) can be abstractedfrom any one cloud to which that user is registered, and made availablefrom an external or independent usage tracking service capable oftracking software and other usage across an arbitrary collection ofclouds, as described herein. In embodiments, the cloud management system104 of an associated cloud can for example meter the usage and/orduration of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116, to generatesubscription and/or billing records for a user that has launched thosemachines. In aspects, tracking records can in addition or instead begenerated by an internal service operating within a given cloud. Othersubscription, billing, entitlement and/or value arrangements arepossible.

The cloud management system 104 can configure each virtual machine inset of instantiated virtual machines 116 to be made available to usersvia one or more networks 116, such as the Internet or other public orprivate networks. Those users can for instance access set ofinstantiated virtual machines via a browser interface, via anapplication server such as a Java™ server, via an applicationprogramming interface (API), and/or other interface or mechanism. Eachinstantiated virtual machine in set of instantiated virtual machines 116can likewise communicate with its associated cloud management system 104and the registered servers in set of resource servers 108 via a standardWeb application programming interface (API), or via other calls,protocols, and/or interfaces. The set of instantiated virtual machines116 can likewise communicate with each other, as well as other sites,servers, locations, and resources available via the Internet or otherpublic or private networks, whether within a given cloud in one or moreclouds 102, or between those or other clouds.

It may be noted that while a browser interface or other front-end can beused to view and operate the set of instantiated virtual machines 116from a client or terminal, the processing, memory, communications,storage, and other hardware as well as software resources required to becombined to build the virtual machines or other resources are all hostedremotely in the one or more clouds 102. In embodiments, the set ofvirtual machines 116 or other services, machines, or resources may notdepend in any degree on or require the user's own on-premise hardware orother resources. In embodiments, a user can therefore request andinstantiate a set of virtual machines or other resources on a purelyoff-premise basis, for instance to build and launch a virtualstorefront, messaging site, and/or any other application. Likewise, oneor more clouds 102 can also be formed in whole or part from resourceshosted or maintained by the users of those clouds, themselves.

Because the cloud management system 104 in one regard specifies, builds,operates and manages the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 on alogical or virtual level, the user can request and receive differentsets of virtual machines and other resources on a real-time or nearreal-time basis, without a need to specify, install, or configure anyparticular hardware. The user's set of instantiated virtual machines116, processes, services, and/or other resources can in one regardtherefore be scaled up or down immediately or virtually immediately onan on-demand basis, if desired. In embodiments, the set of resourceservers 108 that are accessed by the cloud management system 104 tosupport the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 or processes canchange or be substituted, over time. The type and operatingcharacteristics of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 cannevertheless remain constant or virtually constant, since instances areassembled from a collection of abstracted resources that can be selectedand maintained from diverse sources based on uniform specifications.Conversely, the users of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116can also change or update the resource or operational specifications ofthose machines at any time. The cloud management system 104 and/or otherlogic can then adapt the allocated resources for that population ofvirtual machines or other entities, on a dynamic basis.

In terms of network management of the set of instantiate virtualmachines 116 that have been successfully configured and instantiated,the one or more cloud management systems 104 associated with thosemachines can perform various network management tasks includingsecurity, maintenance, and metering for billing or subscriptionpurposes. The cloud management system 104 of one or more clouds 102 can,for example, install, initiate, suspend, or terminate instances ofapplications or appliances on individual machines. The cloud managementsystem 104 can similarly monitor one or more operating virtual machinesto detect any virus or other rogue process on individual machines, andfor instance terminate an application identified as infected, or avirtual machine detected to have entered a fault state. The cloudmanagement system 104 can likewise manage the set of instantiatedvirtual machines 116 or other resources on a network-wide or othercollective basis, for instance, to push the delivery a software upgradeto all active virtual machines or subsets of machines. Other networkmanagement processes can be carried out by cloud management system 104and/or other associated logic.

In embodiments, more than one set of virtual machines can beinstantiated in a given cloud at the same time, at overlapping times,and/or at successive times or intervals. The cloud management system 104can, in such implementations, build, launch and manage multiple sets ofvirtual machines as part of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116based on the same or different underlying set of resource servers 108,with populations of different virtual machines such as may be requestedby the same or different users. The cloud management system 104 caninstitute and enforce security protocols in one or more clouds 102hosting one or more sets of virtual machines. Each of the individualsets or subsets of virtual machines in the set of instantiated virtualmachines 116 can be hosted in a respective partition or sub-cloud of theresources of the main cloud 102. The cloud management system 104 of oneor more clouds 102 can for example deploy services specific to isolatedor defined sub-clouds, or isolate individual workloads/processes withinthe cloud to a specific sub-cloud or other sub-domain or partition ofthe one or more clouds 102 acting as host. The subdivision of one ormore clouds 102 into distinct transient sub-clouds, sub-components, orother subsets which have assured security and isolation features canassist in establishing a multiple user or multi-tenant cloudarrangement. In a multiple-user scenario, each of the multiple users canuse the cloud platform as a common utility while retaining the assurancethat their information is secure from other users of the same one ormore clouds 102. In further embodiments, sub-clouds can nevertheless beconfigured to share resources, if desired.

In embodiments, and as also shown in FIG. 2, the set of instantiatedvirtual machines 116 generated in a first cloud in one or more clouds102 can also interact with a set of instantiated virtual machines,services, and/or processes generated in a second, third or further cloudin one or more clouds 102, comprising a multiple-cloud network 110. Thecloud management system 104 of a first cloud of one or more clouds 102can interface with the cloud management system 104 of a second, third,or further cloud of one or more clouds 102 to coordinate those domainsand operate the clouds and/or virtual machines, services, and/orprocesses on a combined basis. The cloud management system 104 of agiven cloud on one or more clouds 102 can in aspects track and manageindividual virtual machines or other resources instantiated in thatcloud, as well as the set of instantiated virtual machines or otherresources in other clouds.

In the foregoing and other embodiments, the user making an instantiationrequest or otherwise accessing or utilizing the cloud network can be aperson, customer, subscriber, administrator, corporation, organization,government, and/or other entity. In embodiments, the user can be orinclude another virtual machine, application, service and/or process. Infurther embodiments, multiple users or entities can share the use of aset of virtual machines or other resources.

Aspects of the present teachings relate to platforms and techniques inwhich a deployment engine and/or associated logic can identifyover-subscription conditions for the set of virtual machines hosted inthe set of host clouds 142 and operated by one or more users in the setof users 190. In aspects, the over-subscription conditions can involvethe over-consumption of one or more resources which the user may wish toalleviate by re-allocating or re-deploying the subject user's workloador portions of that workload to a federation of backup clouds to supplythe resource deficiencies, or to shift or migrate the workload entirelyto one or more new host clouds. In aspects, the decision to shiftover-subscribed consumption to a set of federated backup clouds or to anentirely new or different host cloud or clouds can be an alternative orbifurcated one, in which one option or the other is chosen. In cases,the decision to shift over-subscribed consumption to a set of federatedbackup clouds or to an entirely new or different host cloud or cloudscan be a joint or divided decision involving some portion of theworkload being migrated to federated backup clouds with another portionbeing migrated to a new host cloud or clouds. In aspects in general,more severe or pronounced over-consumption conditions can militate infavor of selected an entirely new host cloud, which less-severe and/ormore transient over-consumption conditions can militate in favor ofmoving the over-subscribed portion of the workload to a set of federatedbackup clouds. However, the decision to deploy the workload or itscomponents to one or the other support solution is a flexible one andcan be based on a variety of rules, thresholds, and/or decisioncriteria, and different users can choose to apply different criteria formaking a deployment choice.

Consistent with the foregoing, in general, FIG. 3 shows an illustrativenetwork configuration in which systems and methods for a clouddeployment engine for selective workload migration or federation basedon workload conditions can be implemented, according to variousembodiments. In embodiments as shown, one or more users can operate auser premise 144, such as a local area network with a set of servers andclient machines, and/or other machines or resources. In aspects, a setof users 190 can in addition or instead operate one or more sets ofvirtual machines, appliances, and/or other virtual entities (not shown)in a set of host clouds 142. In aspects, the set of users 190 can be orinclude a collection of sub-groups of users who are each affiliated withor a part of the same entity, such as a corporation, government entity,and/or other organization. In aspects, the corporation and/or othercollective entity can establish overall subscription parameters to whichits users are entitled on a collective basis. In cases, the individualteams or users may not be aware or have a mechanism by which to trackoverall resource consumption on a collective basis, for instance tomaintain service or resource level limits.

According to aspects, systems and methods according to the presentteachings can permit. In aspects, the set of host clouds 142 hosting theset of users 190 can include a set of diverse and/or otherwise unrelatedcloud-based networks to which the set of users 190 can subscribe forvarious resources under various subscription terms, limits, criteria,service level agreements, and/or other conditions, which can be recordedor reflected in a set of subscription parameters 146. The set ofsubscription parameters 146 can for instance be stored in the cloudstore 138 hosted or accessed by a cloud management system 104, and/or inother storage resources or locations.

In embodiments as shown, an administrator and/or other user can operatea client 154 or other interface or terminal, for instance a clientlocated in or communicating with the user premise 144 to access the setof subscription parameters 146 and other information related to theconsumption of resources in the set of host clouds 142 by the set ofusers 190. In aspects, the consumption of resources in the set of hostclouds 142 and generation of related billing events and othersubscription-related activities can be tracked and managed by anentitlement engine 140, which can be hosted in the cloud managementsystem 104 and/or in other locations, resources, or services. Accordingto aspects, the entitlement engine 140 can communicate with a one ormore resource providers 156, such as the vendors of software such asoperating systems, applications, utilities, and/or other programs,services, and/or related resources. The one or more resource providers156 can maintain part or all of the terms, conditions, limits, criteria,stipulations, and/or other parameters of the subscription of the set ofusers 190 to one or more resources hosted or provisioned in the set ofhost clouds 142, and for instance reflected in the set of subscriptionparameters 146.

In aspects, each host cloud in the set of host clouds 142 can captureand store a set of local usage data 152. The set of local usage data 152can record the consumption or use of resources in a local host cloud inthe set of host clouds 142, such as the number of instances of softwareincluding operating systems and applications, processor resources,memory resources, communications resources, storage resources, and/orother elements or resources. The set of local usage data 152 can includeusage data for one, some, and/or all of the set of users 190 operatingvirtual machines or otherwise consuming resources in each particularhost cloud. The entitlement engine 140 can periodically receive the setof local usage data 152 and/or updates to that information from one ormore host clouds in the set of host clouds 142. The receipt of the setof local usage data 152 or any portion of the set of local usage data152 can be performed in aspects on a pull or demand basis, where theentitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can issue commands orinstructions to one or more host clouds in the set of host clouds 142,and receive that data back from the interrogated cloud or clouds. Inaspects, the set of local usage data 152 can be transmitted to theentitlement engine 140 on a push basis, for instance, on a scheduled,predetermined, event-triggered, and/or other basis initiated by one ormore of the host clouds in set of host clouds 142, themselves. Otherchannels, schedules, and techniques for the collection of the set oflocal usage data 152 from any one or more of the set of host clouds 142can be used.

After receipt of the set of local usage data 152, any portion orcomponent of the set of local usage data 152, and/or updates to thesame, the entitlement engine 140 can collect and aggregate the set oflocal usage data 152 from the various host clouds and organize that datain a set of aggregate usage history data 148. The set of aggregate usagehistory data 148 can reflect recent and/or accumulated usage consumptionby the set of users 190 and/or any one user or other subset thereof inall of the set of host clouds 142, over comparatively short-term periodsor intervals such as minutes, one or more hours, one day, a number ofdays, a week, a month or months, and/or other intervals or periods. Inaspects, the entitlement engine 140 can collect the set of local usagedata 152 regardless of whether each of those clouds is configured tocommunicate with each other or not. In aspects, the set of aggregateusage history data 148 can present to the entitlement engine 140 and/orother logic the combined resource consumption by the set of users 190across the user premise 144 and/or all operating virtual machines orentities, on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day, and/or other relativelyshort-term basis.

According to aspects, the entitlement engine 140 can thereby identifycomparatively short-term resource consumption by the virtual machines orother entities, sites or nodes operated by the set of users 190, andcapture and track that consumption compared to the short-term limits,levels, thresholds, ceilings, or caps that may be contained in the setof subscription parameters 146 for that user. The entitlement engine 140can therefore generate or determine a short-term consumption margin foreach resource which the set of users 190 consume and/or subscribe to ineach cloud in the set of host clouds 142, indicating whether over thecourse of an hour or other period the consumption rates or values areover the subscription limit for a given resource, under the subscriptionlimit, or at or nearly at the subscription limit for that resource.

Both the over and under-consumption margins for each resource can becaptured and calculated, from which the entitlement engine 140 cangenerate a set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178 representingthe collective short-term consumption of that resource across thediverse host clouds in set of host clouds 142, resulting in an offset oraggregate consumption value. Deviations from short-term consumptioncaps, limits, service level agreements (SLAs), and/or other criteria cantherefore be combined, averaged, aggregated, and/or otherwise “smoothedout” to more accurately and/or timely reflect the consumption patternsof the set of users 190, as a whole on an aggregate basis. In aspects,the resource provider 156, the cloud operators or providers of the setof host clouds 142, and/or other entities can thereby charge, bill, orotherwise adjust the subscription costs or other factors encoded in thebilling record 150 sent to the set of users 190, for instance via anadministrator or other users, so that their subscription obligationsmore closely track the actual consumption behavior demonstrated by theset of users 190. In aspects, the set of short-term user-aggregatedmargins 178 can for instance be used to establish short-term marginalsubscription costs based on short-term deviations from any subscriptionconsumption limits, which costs can then be combined over different timeperiods to further average or aggregate the deviations in resourceconsumption. In aspects, the detection of bursts and relaxations inresource consumption over relatively short-term periods can therebyallow both positive and negative offsets or margins in subscriptioncosts, creating a more accurate assignment of subscription rates. Inembodiments as shown, the over-consumption of one or more resourcesand/or related events can be reflected in a set of over-subscriptionconditions 226, which can include records indicating the degree by whichvarious resources (processor, memory, storage, operating system,application, etc.) exceeds any subscription caps or levels in a giveninterval of time.

In implementations as shown, after detecting the set of short-termuser-aggregated margins 178 for each resource of interest, theentitlement engine 140 can generate a billing record 150 reflecting thatevent, for purposes of notification to the user and collection ofbilling amounts or other responses. In aspects, the entitlement engine140 can transmit or forward the billing record 150 to the resourceprovider 156, such as a software vendor, to produce and transmit to theuser under agreed billing arrangements. In aspects, the entitlementengine 140 can transmit or forward the billing record 150 to one or morehost clouds in set of host clouds 142, including those in which anover-limit resource usage or other event took place, to potentiallytransmit to the set of users 190 and/or other recipient for similarpurposes. In aspects, the resource provider 156 and one or more cloudoperators or cloud providers of the set of host clouds 142 can maintainagreements or arrangements for the capture and forwarding of the billingrecord 150, and the collection of any billing amounts or credits paid bythe user. In aspects, the resource provider 156 and the host cloudproviders or operators can establish arrangements to share or distributeany overage payments or other payments or credits received from usersbetween themselves. According to aspects, the monitoring and billingcapture of short or long-term over-limit resource consumption cantherefore be conducted, on a marginal offset or other basis, even ininstances where each host cloud in set of host clouds 142 is not awareof subscription limits contained in the set of subscription parameters146, and/or the local usage data 152 of one or more of the set of hostclouds 142 is not visible to other host clouds and/or all groups orsub-groups of users within the set of users 190, and/or to otherparticipants in the cloud-based network.

In implementations, the cloud management system 102 and/or other server,logic, and/or resource of the set of host clouds 142 and/or other cloudsor networks can be configured with a deployment engine 222, which can beor include application(s), software, logic, services, hardware, and/orother resources used to implement various processing and decisions forthe support or migration of over-subscribed resources and/or workloadsoperated by a user. In aspects as shown, the cloud management system 102supporting a set of host clouds 142 can host, incorporate, and/or accessthe deployment engine 222, and interact with or use the deploymentengine 222 and/or other logic, application, and/or service to build,maintain, access, and monitor the one or more over-subscriptionconditions 226, and analyze those conditions to generate a decision tomigrate or deploy the workload 228 and/or any portions of the workload228 to either one or more replacement clouds 214, to a set of federatedbackup clouds 218, and/or to combinations of those potential hosts.

The deployment engine 222 and/or other logic, application, and/orservice can access, generate, monitor, and update the one or moreover-subscription conditions 226 to identify those resources whoseconsumption has exceeded any limits in the user's set of subscriptionparameters 146, and by what amount. In aspects, for example, the one ormore over-subscription conditions 226 can indicate or reflect that forUser A, at present or over some selected time period (e.g., the lasthour or day), the consumption of processor resources has been running ata rate of 105% of the subscription limit. The one or moreover-subscription conditions 226 can likewise for instance indicate orreflect that for User A, at present or over some selected time period,the consumption of memory resources has been running at a rate of 115%of the subscription limit, while the number of operating systeminstances has been running or averaging 220 instances against asubscription limit of 2000 instances, producing an over-subscriptioncondition of 20 instances or 10% of the allocated limit. Other hardware,software, services, and/or other resources can be tracked in the one ormore over-subscription conditions 226, which can likewise store similarinformation for more than one user.

In implementations as shown, after the various resource consumptionrates, levels, and/or other subscription-related information is gatheredin the one or more over-subscription conditions 226, the deploymentengine 222 and/or other application, logic, and/or service can analyzethat data using a set of selection criteria 220 to determine whether toalleviate the over-consumption of resources by deploying the user'sworkload 228 and/or the over-subscribed resources and/or other portionsthereof to the set of federated backup clouds 218, to the one or morereplacement clouds 214, to combinations thereof, and/or to other cloudsupport networks In aspects, the set of selection criteria 220 cancomprise a variety of functions, thresholds, limits, variables,calculations, and/or other criteria that can be used to identify apreferred, acceptable, optimal, and/or other choice for the deploymentof the workload 228 operating under the one or more over-subscriptionconditions 226. In aspects, it may be noted that the workload 228 for auser can reflect the sum total of all executing processes includingsoftware, data access, virtual machine configuration, operation, andsupport, and/or other associated tasks executing in the set of hostclouds 142. In aspects, the set of selection criteria 220 can beautomatically generated by the deployment engine 222 and/or otherapplication, logic, and/or service can be or include criteria inputtedor supplied by the user. In cases, the set of selection criteria 220 canreflect a single or simple decision variable or criteria, such as“select the support option providing the minimum necessary resources tosupply the workload (228) including any over-subscribed resources atminimum cost,” given the degree of over-subscription reflected in theone or more over-subscription conditions 226. In cases such as the notedexample where the user is experiencing over-consumption rates of 5%,15%, and 10% of processor, memory, and operating systemover-consumption, the deployment engine 222 and/or other application,logic, and/or service can determine that those represent relativelylimited over-subscription conditions, and allocate the over-subscribedportion of the workload 228 to the set of federated backup clouds 218,based on a lowest-cost determination for using or “rolling over” thosebackup clouds on a comparatively temporary basis. In aspects, if theover-subscription conditions are projected to differ or vary overdifferent time periods, the deployment engine 222 and/or otherapplication, logic, and/or service can in addition or instead ofselecting just one set of federated backup clouds 218, can also selectedmultiple sets or layers of federated backup clouds, at different timesand/or based on other conditions.

On the other hand, in cases, where the user is experiencing relativelyhigh over-subscription margins or thresholds such as 150% of processorlimits, 225% of memory limits, and 300% of operating system instances,the deployment engine 222 and/or other application, logic, and/orservice may generate a determination that the migration of the entireworkload 228 of the user to one or more replacement clouds 214 mayrepresent the preferred or optimal choice. In cases, that may be thecase because the net subscription cost of moving and hosting the user'sworkload 228 in the one or more replacement clouds 214 may be less thancontinuing to attempt to acquire the necessary resources from the set offederated backup clouds 218 on a market basis, and/or because thosefederated support networks may not be able to provide resources at therequired levels or at the required times. Other combinations of criteriaand/or decision logic can be incorporated in the set of selectioncriteria 220.

In terms of data capture of the usage, subscription, billing and relatedinformation used to detect and record resource consumption, excessresource capacity flows, and/or other information and/or other events,FIG. 4 illustrates an aggregate usage history record 180 that can beused to store the set of aggregate usage history data 148 which canstore and encode various data, attributes, criteria, and/or otherinformation used to track and manage the differential or marginalresource consumption in the set of host clouds 142 and/or other hostsites by the set of users 190. In aspects, the aggregate usage historyrecord 180 can be encoded as a relational or other database, table,tree, file, object, and/or other data store or data structure. Inaspects as shown, the set of aggregate usage history data 148 encodedand stored in the aggregate usage history record 180 can include tables,entries, values, attributes, and/or other information including set ofshort-term consumption data 162 reflecting the usage of one or moreresources in the set of host clouds 142 by each user in the set of users190 over one or more short-term consumption periods 160. In aspects, theone or more short-term consumption periods 160 can be or include avariety of periods or intervals, such as one-hour intervals (as shown),but can also be or include other periods or intervals, such as 1, 5, 10,15, and/or 30 minutes, 2 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, one day or 24 hours,3 days, one week, and/or other time intervals or periods. In aspects,the one or more short-term consumption periods 160 can reflect a periodor interval (or periods or intervals) that is/are shorter than theperiod called for in the set of subscription parameters 146 as the basicor defined interval in terms of resource consumption limits or levels,service level agreements (SLAs), and/or other subscription criteria orsettings. In aspects, the short-term subscription period 160 can bedefined to be equal to the subscription period(s) or interval(s) definedby the set of subscription parameters 146. In aspects, the value,length, or short-term nature of the one or more short-term consumptionperiods 160 can be configured as dynamic, flexible, or configurableunits, rather than defined as a strict number of minutes, hours, days,and/or weeks or other units. In aspects, the short-term subscriptionperiod 160 can be set or configured by a user, such as the cloudprovider(s) or cloud operator(s) of the set of host clouds 142, by theone or more resource providers 156, by the set of users 190 whose set ofaggregate usage history data 148 is being track and administered, and/orby other users or entities. In aspects, a record can be kept in theaggregate usage history record 180 recording, for each cloud in the setof host clouds 142 in which the set of users 190 subscribes and/or usesor consumes resources, the short-term consumption data 162 indicating anamount, rate, or other metric of resource consumption over each of theone or more short-term consumption periods 160.

In aspects as shown, the aggregate usage history record 180 can likewiseinclude, for each cloud in the set of host clouds 142 and each resourceconsumed or used in that cloud, the short-term consumption limit 164 forthat user based on the set of subscription parameters 146 and/or otherinformation for each user in the set of users 190. In aspects, theentitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can generate and store ashort-term subscription margin 166 reflecting the deviation in terms ofunder-consumption or over-consumption of each resource for which eachuser in the set of users 190 has a short-term subscription limit 164.The short-term subscription margin 166 can thereby reflect, on acomparatively short-term basis, such as every 15 or 30 minutes, hour, 8hour, one-day or other period, the marginal amount by which theconsumption of a subscribed resource by the set of users 190 isfluctuating and possibly deviating from the short-term consumption limit166. In aspects, the short-term subscription margin 166 can reflect anegative value, indicating that a lesser amount of one or more resourceis being consumed or has been consumed compared to limits or levels inthe set of subscription parameters 146. In aspects, the short-termsubscription margin 166 can reflect a positive value, indicating that agreater amount of one or more resource is being consumed or has beenconsumed compared to limits or levels in the set of subscriptionparameters 146.

In aspects, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can similarlycollect and sum or aggregate the short-term subscription margin 166 overeach host cloud in the set of host clouds 142 in which the set of users190 is using or consuming the subject resource to generate a set ofshort-term user-aggregated margins 178, representing the comparativelyshort-term or immediate net consumption of the resource over the set ofusers 190. In aspects, the set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178can also be aggregated over two or more clouds of the set of host clouds142. The set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178 can be calculatedand stored for each hour and/or other period represented by the one ormore short-term consumption periods 160, for instance over the course ofone hour, day, one week, one month, and/or other period or interval. Inaspects as shown, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic orservice can further calculate and store an aggregate consumption total172 over a defined period, such as a one-day or other period, summing oraggregating the set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178 for aresource for one user over that period. In aspects, the aggregateconsumption total 172 can thereby encode the combined, net, averaged,and/or otherwise aggregated effect of the various under and over-limitconsumption events by the set of users 190 in the set of host clouds 142over 12 hours, 24 hours, and/or other predetermined interval. Theentitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can, in addition, alsocalculate and store a set of offset subscription costs 170 reflectingthe costs, surcharges, credits, and/or other adjustments for each hourand/or other period in the one or more short-term consumption periods160 for a particular resource across the set of users 190. A resourceprovider, cloud operator, and/or other entity may be entitled, forinstance, to an overage subscription fee or charge at a rate of $0.50per instance for operating system (OS) instances over the short-termconsumption limit 164 based on that usage, and/or other adjustments orfactors. In aspects, the set of offset subscription costs 170 can becomputed at a fixed rate, and/or at a dynamically adjusted rate, forinstance based on time of usage, total resource consumption, and/orother parameters. The entitlement engine 140 and/or other service orlogic can also generate an aggregate offset subscription cost 174 whichcombines or sums the set of offset subscription costs 170 for each ofthe one or more short-term consumption periods 160 for a predeterminedperiod, such as one day, one week, one month, and/or other period orinterval, across the set of users 190. The aggregate offset subscriptioncost 174, and other consumption variables and cost factors, can inaspects thereby more accurately correspond to the overall rate orabsolute amount of resource consumption in the set of host clouds 142 bythe set of users 190. In embodiments, the entitlement engine 140 and/orother logic can in addition combine, sum, and/or otherwise aggregate ornet the aggregate offset subscription cost 174 for multiple individualresources whose consumption data in turn has been aggregated acrossmultiple host clouds in the corresponding aggregate offset subscriptioncost 174, to generate a total offset subscription cost 182. In aspects,the total offset subscription cost 182 can encapsulate the net marginalresource usage by the set of users 190 against all short-termconsumption limits 164 with associated costs or credits across all hostclouds in the set of host clouds 142, all subscribed resources, and/orall daily or other operative time periods constructed from the one ormore short-term consumption periods 160.

In aspects and as likewise shown in FIG. 4, the entitlement engine 140and/or other logic or service can also capture, identify, and/or recordthe one or more over-subscription conditions 226 reflected in the set ofaggregate usage history data 148 for one or more users. In aspects, theone or more over-subscription conditions 226 can be derived from the setof short-term consumption margins 166, short-term consumption data 162,and/or other data or variables related to the user's virtual machineoperation and resource consumption in the set of host clouds 142.

According to those and related aspects of the present teachings, and asfor example further shown in FIG. 5, the deployment engine 222,entitlement engine 140, and/or other logic, application, and/or servicecan operate to generate, manipulate, analyze, and update the one or moreover-subscription conditions 226, including time-series of resourceconsumption by the user's virtual machines, as shown. In aspects, thedeployment engine 222 and/or other application, logic, and/or servicecan generally monitor the resource consumption flows of a user toidentify the one or more over-subscription conditions 226 by trackingthe consumption of resources which exceed one or more terms in theuser's set of subscription parameters 146. It may be noted, the one ormore over-subscription conditions 226 can likewise second-order orhigher-level details about the user's resource consumption trends, suchas whether the rate at which resources are being consumed above limit isdecreasing, staying the same, or increasing. In cases, the deploymentengine 222 and/or other application, logic, and/or service can track therate of change or “acceleration” of one or more over-subscriptionconditions, to determine those trends which may represent a particularlyvigorous change in consumption patterns. In such cases or others, theset of selection criteria 220 can be biased or weighted in favor ofselecting one or more replacement clouds 214 to support theover-subscribed resources, since the user's consumption of thoseresources may be viewed to be likely to continue to expand. Othertrends, characteristics, data points, and/or calculations can be used togenerate the one or more over-subscription conditions 226 and/or relatedinformation.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary diagram of hardware and other resourcesthat can be incorporated in a cloud management system 104 configured tocommunicate with the set of instantiated virtual machines 116,entitlement engine 140, user premise 144, client 154, set of host clouds142, and/or other entities, services, or resources via one or morenetworks 106 and/or other connections, according to embodiments. Inembodiments as shown, the cloud management system 104 can comprise aprocessor 130 communicating with memory 132, such as electronic randomaccess memory, operating under control of or in conjunction with anoperating system 136. The operating system 136 can be, for example, adistribution of the Linux™ operating system, the Unix™ operating system,or other open-source or proprietary operating system or platform. Theprocessor 130 also communicates with a cloud store 138, such as adatabase stored on a local hard drive, and a management engine 128, toexecute control logic and control the operation of virtual machines andother resources in one or more clouds 102, the set of host clouds 142,and/or other collections of clouds. The processor 130 furthercommunicates with a network interface 134, such as an Ethernet orwireless data connection, which in turn communicates with the one ormore networks 106, such as the Internet or other public or privatenetworks. The processor 130 and/or the cloud management system 104 canlikewise communicate with the entitlement engine 140, the deploymentengine 222, the set of subscription parameters 146, the set of usagehistory data 148, the user premise 144, the client 154, the set of hostclouds 142, and/or other interfaces, applications, machines, sites,services, data, and/or logic. Other configurations of the cloudmanagement system 104, associated network connections, and otherhardware, software, and service resources are possible. It may be notedthat in embodiments, the client 154 and/or other hardware machines,platforms, or engines can comprise the same or similar resources ascloud management system 104, or can be configured with differenthardware and software resources.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of overall processing to perform thetracking of resource consumption, management of subscription parameters,short-term billing capture and margin reconciliation and relatedactivities, according to various embodiments of the present teachings.In 702, processing can begin. In 704, an administrator or other user caninitiate and/or access the set of aggregate usage history data 148 forthe set of users 190 and/or other user or users via the entitlementengine 140 and/or other logic. In 706, an administrator or other usercan initiate and/or access the set of subscription parameters 146,indicating, for instance, resource consumption rates, limits, caps,and/or other subscription parameters or factors by which the set ofusers 190 can subscribe to resources of the set of host clouds 140. In708, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can track, register,and/or monitor the set of aggregate usage history data 148 to determinethe short-term subscription margin 166 for each resource to which theset of users 190 subscribes, in each host cloud in set of host clouds142 to which the user is registered. In aspects, the short-termsubscription margin 166 can be tracked or monitored for each period inthe one or more short-term consumption periods 160. In aspects, the oneor more short-term subscription periods 160 can be or include one ormore periods such as, for instance, one-hour periods as shown, and/orcan also or instead include other periods such as periods or intervalsof 1, 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes, 8-hour periods, 12-hour periods, 24-hourperiods, and/or other periods or intervals. In aspects, the one or moreshort-term consumption periods 160 can correspond to the short timeperiods tracked by the cloud management system, the entitlement engine140, the set of host clouds 142, and/or other cloud logic orinfrastructure. In aspects, the one or more short-term consumptionperiods 160 can comprise equally-spaced intervals, and/or can includeintervals of different durations or lengths.

In 710, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can sum theshort-term subscription margin 166 across all users in the set of users190 and/or all host clouds for each period of the one or more short-termconsumption periods 160 to generate the short-term user-aggregatedsubscription margin 172 for that respective period. For instance, inexemplary records as shown in FIG. 4, the number of operating system(OS) instances instantiated and/or run by the set of users 190 in agiven hour across the set of host clouds 142 can be totaled, so thatinstances of under-limit consumption offset instances of over-limitconsumption, resulting in a net short-term cloud-aggregated subscriptionmargin 178 for the one or more short-term consumption periods 160 acrossall users in set of users 190 for one or more all host clouds. In cases,the set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178 may reflect a netover-consumption (positive) value for that hour or other period (asillustratively shown), or can reflect an under-consumption (negative)value for that same period. A zero margin (at-limit) value can also bereflected.

In 712, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can generate theset of marginal consumption totals 168 reflecting the total combinedshort-term subscription margin 166 for each resource being tracked overa 24-hour, or other interval or period. For example, and as shown forinstance in FIG. 4, the under-limit (e.g. recorded as a negative value)and over-limit (e.g. recorded as a positive value) margins or incrementsof consumption under or over the short-term consumption limit 164 foreach one or more short-term consumption periods 160 can be summed orcombined to determine the set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178for each respective resource over a 24-hour period, again for one ormore host clouds. In aspects, other periods or intervals other than a24-hour period can be used to sum the values reflected in the set ofshort-term user-aggregated margins 178. The values reflected in the setof short-term user-aggregated margins 178 can thereby reflect thenetting out of the under-consumption and over-consumption values for agiven resource in two or more dimensions, namely over multiple usersand/or two or more host clouds, and over multiple instances of the oneor more short-term consumption periods 160, averaging out consumptionfluctuations by the set of users 190 in relation to the set ofshort-term consumption limits 164.

In 714, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can generate theset of offset subscription costs 170 for each of the one or moreshort-term consumption periods 160 corresponding to the set ofshort-term user-aggregated margins 178 for each subscribed resource. Forinstance, if the record for a given one or more short-term consumptionperiods 160 reflects the over-consumption of 20 operating systeminstances, the assigned overage cost of that usage may be, for instance,$0.50 times 20 instances, or $10.00 for that hour or other period. In716, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can generate theaggregate offset subscription cost 174 for one 24-hour or other period,representing the combination of the set of offset subscription costs 170over a multiple number of the one or more short-term consumption periods160, such as the combination of 24 one-hour periods, or other intervals,periods, or multiples. In 718, the entitlement engine 140 and/or otherlogic can generate the billing record 150 based on the aggregate offsetsubscription cost 174 for each resource being tracked and/or metered forthe set of users 190, and/or based on other costs, adjustments, offsets,and/or factors. In 720, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic,entities, or resources, such as the operator of the set of host clouds142, can transmit the billing record 150 to an administrator for the setof users 190 and/or other user or other recipient. In 724, as understoodby persons skilled in the art, processing can repeat, return to a priorprocessing point, jump to a further processing point, or end.

FIG. 8 illustrates various processing that can be used in systems andmethods for a cloud deployment engine for selective workload migrationor federation based on workload conditions, according to aspects of theteachings. In 802, processing can begin. In 804, an administrator and/orother user can initiate the deployment engine 222 and/or other logic,applications, services, or tools to manage the workload distributionand/or resource consumption for one or more users of a set of virtualmachines, such as virtual machines hosted in or instantiated on one ormore cloud-based networks, and/or hosted in or instantiated on one ormore premise networks. In 806, the deployment engine 222 and/or otherapplication, logic, and/or service can access and/or read or extract theset of aggregate usage history data 148 for the subject user or users,as well as the set of subscription parameters 146 for the user(s) of theset of virtual machines 116, which again can for instance be or includeindividual users and/or collections of users, such as a corporationand/or other entity. In 808, the deployment engine 222 and/or otherapplication, logic, and/or service can analyze the set of aggregateusage history data 148 and/or other information to detect and/oridentify one or more over-subscription conditions 226 that may exist inthe user's or users' workload 228. The deployment engine 222 and/orother application, logic, and/or service can determine, for instance,that the user's workload 228 is presently, currently, and/or otherwiseimmediately or in real-time consuming 110% of the subscribed processorresources, 105% of the subscribed memory resources, and 15 instancesmore of an operating system than available under the user's set ofsubscription parameters 146.

In 810, the deployment engine 222 and/or other application, logic,and/or service can analyze the potential migration or deployment of theover-subscribed portion of the workload 228 to the one or morereplacement clouds 214, to generate a projected cloud replacementoutcome and/or other prediction or report. In aspects, the projectedfederated outcome can indicate expected deployment results such as,merely for example, “workload (228) can be migrate to replacement cloudA on a permanent basis at a subscription cost of $125 per day at theover-subscribed rate of resource consumption,” and/or other projectionsor outcomes. In 812, the deployment engine 222 and/or other application,logic, and/or service can analyze the potential migration or deploymentof the over-subscribed portion of the workload 228 to the set offederated backed up clouds 218, to generate a projected federatedoutcome and/or other prediction or report. In aspects, the projectedfederated outcome can indicate expected deployment results such as,merely for example, “over-subscribed resources can be supplied by cloudfederation B for a period of 12 hours at a temporary subscription costof $25 per hour,” and/or other projections or outcomes.

In 814, the deployment engine 222 and/or other application, logic,and/or service can apply the set of selection criteria 220 and/or otherfactors to the projected federated outcome and the projected cloudreplacement outcome, as appropriate. For instance, the set of selectioncriteria 220 can indicate that the preferred or selected hosting targetwill be that hosting alternative which provides at least a set ofresources sufficient to support or cover 15% the highestover-subscription rate of resource consumption, while incurring no morethan 10% greater subscription cost than that of the same resources(including over-subscription) hosted in the original host cloud 210.Other factors, parameters, variables, thresholds, tests, and/or criteriacan be contained in the set of selection criteria 220, which criteriacan in cases be multiple or compound in nature.

In 816, the deployment engine 222 and/or other application, logic,and/or service can select and/or identify the set of federated backupclouds 218 and/or the one or more replacement clouds 214 for migrationor deployment activity, based on the set of selection criteria 220, theprojected cloud replacement outcome, the projected federation outcome,user input(s) or selection(s), and/or other factors, tests, thresholds,and/or criteria, as appropriate. In 818, the deployment engine 222and/or other application, logic, and/or service can initiate themigration of the workload 228 and/or the over-subscribed portion of theworkload 228 to the set of federated backup clouds 218 and/or the one ormore replacement clouds 214, as appropriate. In 820, the deploymentengine 222 and/or other application, logic, and/or service can meter,bill, and/or otherwise administer the migrated workload 228 and/or anyportions thereof that is temporarily hosted in the set of federatedbackup clouds 218 and/or the one or more replacement clouds 214.

In 822, the deployment engine 222 and/or other application, logic,and/or service can initiate the migration of the workload 228 and/or theover-subscribed portion of the workload 228 from the set of federatedbackup clouds 218 and/or the one or more replacement clouds 214 to theoriginal host cloud 210 after the over-subscription conditions haveended or subsided, as appropriate. While in embodiments the workload 228can be returned to the original host cloud 210, in embodiments, theworkload 228 and/or portions thereof can likewise be migrated ortransported to new, additional, or other host clouds, as desired. In824, processing can jump to a prior processing point, proceed to afurther processing point, repeat, or end.

The foregoing description is illustrative, and variations inconfiguration and implementation may occur to persons skilled in theart. For example, while embodiments have been described in which thecloud management system 104 for a particular cloud resides in a singleserver or platform, in embodiments the cloud management system 104 andassociated logic can be distributed among multiple servers, services, orsystems. Similarly, while embodiments have been described in which onegroup of servers within a set of resource servers 108 can provide onecomponent to build a requested set of virtual machines, in embodiments,one group of resource servers can deliver multiple components topopulate the requested set of instantiated virtual machines 116, and/orother machines, entities, services, or resources. For further example,while embodiments have been described in which a user connects to oraccesses the entitlement engine 140 via one client 154, in embodiments,multiple clients, portals, services, and/or other access points to theentitlement engine 140 can be used. Likewise, while embodiments havebeen described in which one entitlement engine 140 and/or deploymentengine 222 operate to manage the resource consumption, billing, and/orother activities of one or more users in a set of host clouds 142, inembodiments, multiple deployment engines, scheduling engines, and/orother logic or services can perform the same or similar logic to managedeployment options. Other resources described as singular or integratedcan in embodiments be plural or distributed, and resources described, asmultiple or distributed can in embodiments be combined. The scope of theinvention is accordingly intended to be limited only by the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: generating a projectedcloud replacement outcome based on a potential migration of the workloadto at least one replacement cloud; generating a projected cloudfederation outcome based on a potential migration of the over-subscribedportion of the workload to at least one set of federated backup clouds;and selecting, by a processor, at least one of the at least onereplacement cloud and the at least one set of federated backup cloudsfor migration of at least the over-subscribed portion of the workloadbased on at least a set of selection criteria, the projected cloudreplacement outcome, and the projected cloud federation outcome.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein at least one of the projected cloudreplacement outcome or the projected cloud federation outcome comprisesa subscription cost for hosting of the at least over-subscribed portionof the workload.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting isbased on a rate of resource consumption increase of the at leastover-subscribed portion of the workload.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the selecting comprises selecting the at least one replacementcloud when the rate of resource consumption increase exceeds a thresholdset in the set of selection criteria.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: accessing a set of usage history data for a set of resourcesconsumed by a set of virtual machines executing a workload; anddeterming one or more over-subscription conditions based on the usagehistory of the set of virtual machines, wherein the set of selectioncriteria comprises an upper over-subscription limit for at least one ofthe resources consumed by the set of virtual machines.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the selecting comprises selecting the set of federatedbackup clouds when the consumption of the at least one resource in theover-subscribed portion of the workload does not exceed the upperover-subscription limit.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the selectingcomprises selecting the at least one replacement cloud when theconsumption of the at least one resource in the over-subscribed portionof the workload exceeds the upper over-subscription limit.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein the at least one set of federated backup cloudscomprises a plurality of sets of federated backup clouds configured inlayers based on time periods estimated in the projected cloud federationoutcome.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of selection criteriacomprises at least one of available processor capacity, available memorycapacity, available storage capacity, available operating systeminstances, available application instances, or a time period for whichthe over-subscribed portion of the workload can be hosted.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising terminating the at leastover-subscribed portion of the workload in the at least one replacementcloud or the set of federated backup clouds when the set of usagehistory data indicates the one or more over-subscription conditions haveended.
 11. A system, comprising: an interface to a data store storing aset of usage history data for a set of virtual machines consuming a setof resources executing a workload; and a processor, to communicate withthe data store via the interface, the processor to: generate a projectedcloud federation outcome based on a potential migration of theover-subscribed portion of the workload to at least one set of federatedbackup clouds, and select at least one of the at least one replacementcloud and the at least one set of federated backup clouds for migrationof at least the over-subscribed portion of the workload based on atleast a set of selection criteria, the projected cloud replacementoutcome, and the projected cloud federation outcome.
 12. The system ofclaim 11, wherein at least one of the projected cloud replacementoutcome or the projected cloud federation outcome comprises asubscription cost for hosting of the at least over-subscribed portion ofthe workload.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the select is based ona rate of resource consumption increase of the at least over-subscribedportion of the workload.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the selectcomprises select the at least one replacement cloud when the rate ofresource consumption increase exceeds a threshold set in the set ofselection criteria.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor isfurther to: access a set of usage history data for a set of resourcesconsumed by a set of virtual machines executing a workload; anddetermine one or more over-subscription conditions based on the usagehistory of the set of virtual machines, wherein the set of selectioncriteria comprises an upper over-subscription limit for at least one ofthe resources consumed by the set of virtual machines.
 16. The system ofclaim 15, wherein the select comprises select the set of federatedbackup clouds when the consumption of the at least one resource in theover-subscribed portion of the workload does not exceed the upperover-subscription limit.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the selectcomprises select the at least one replacement cloud when the consumptionof the at least one resource in the over-subscribed portion of theworkload exceeds the upper over-subscription limit.
 18. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the at least one set of federated backup cloudscomprises a plurality of sets of federated backup clouds configured inlayers based on time periods estimated in the projected cloud federationoutcome.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein the set of selectioncriteria comprises at least one of available processor capacity,available memory capacity, available storage capacity, availableoperating system instances, available application instances, or a timeperiod for which the over-subscribed portion of the workload can behosted.
 20. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further toterminate the at least over-subscribed portion of the workload in the atleast one replacement cloud or the set of federated backup clouds whenthe set of usage history data indicates the one or moreover-subscription conditions have ended.